9. In a Jam

IN A JAM 9 The chomping door held the sash in its splintery teeth. "I can't get it free!" Sam cried. Lucy and Antonio grabbed onto Sam. They pulled hard, but the door had slammed shut like a mousetrap. It wouldn't let go! "Orson Eerie really doesn't want you to have your sash back!" Lucy cried.

Sam glanced at his friends. They knew that without the sash, they wouldn't be strong enough to defeat the school. Sam dug his fingers into the fabric. "Everyone, PULL!" he shouted. They tugged with all their might! A moment later, Sam, Lucy, and Antonio tumble to the floor. The sash was tattered, but it was still in one piece. Sam leapt to his feet. He looked around: at the walls, at the ceiling, down the long hall. He thrust the sash in the air. "Listen up, Orson Eerie!" he shouted. "You'll never get rid of us!"

"Come on!" Lucy yelled, tugging on Sam's sleeve. "Orson could strike the game at any moment!" Principal Winik's voice rang out: "The third inning starts now!" Sam and his friends hurried around the corner. They ran toward the double doors at the end of the hall. But then Sam felt it. Orson Eerie wasn't giving up without a fight... The floor rippled. The walls trembled.

"Am I crazy?" Antonio asked. "Or is the hall getting smaller?" Sam realized it was true. The hallway was narrowing. The walls were closing in around them! "Orson's trying to use the hall to defeat the hall monitors?!" Lucy said. "Run!" Antonio cried. The floors swayed and shifted as the friends barreled down the hall. KRAKA-BURST! Sam glanced upward. The shrinking hall had knocked all the water sprinklers in the ceiling loose. Ice-cold water gushed down! The floor was soaking wet.

The friends leaned forward and ran harder. But the doors seemed to be getting farther and farther away. The hallway was lengthening! AIEEEE! The hallway shrieked as the walls closed around them. Sam's heart raced. We're going to be crushed!